Chelsea's new £50m kit sponsor subject to criminal complaint in United States

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FT Desk

Circle, Chelsea's new front-of-shirt sponsor, is the subject of a criminal complaint in Wisconsin.

In recent years, the Blues have gone through several different shirt sponsors. Mobile company Three were the club’s main sponsor from 2020 to 2023, before their partnership came to an end. Chelsea then signed Infinite Athlete for the 2023–24 season after initially starting the campaign without a sponsor.

The club again struggled to secure a long-term deal, with DAMAC becoming the front-of-shirt sponsor towards the end of the 2024–25 season. In February of 2026, technology company IFS replaced DAMAC and remained on the shirt until the end of the 2025–26 campaign.

For the 2026–27 season, they have now agreed a deal with crypto company Circle Internet Group, with its USDC stablecoin brand appearing on the club’s shirts.

The Daily Mailreports that the one-season deal could be for as much as £50 million.

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However, Wisconsin prosecutors have accused Circle of deliberately ignoring a court-issued warrant seeking the recovery of approximately 381,000 USDC tokens that were allegedly stolen from a local fraud victim.

"Circle is a regulated company that complies with sanctions, law enforcement orders, and court-mandated requirements, and has a strong track record of cooperating with law enforcement agencies across the United States and internationally.

"Regarding seizure requests, the legal structures that would authorize stablecoin issuers to act faster—while preserving due process and property rights—do not yet fully exist. As Circle's Chief Strategy Officer Dante Disparte wrote in an April blog post on this topic, that is a policy gap, not a cooperation gap. Circle has filed a motion in the Walworth County, Wisconsin, proceeding, which is a matter of public record. We cannot comment further on that case or other legal proceedings," a Circle spokesperson told BeInCrypto.

Chelsea’s new front of shirt sponsor Circle is currently subject to a criminal complaint in Wisconsin relating to stolen crypto coins.

Its Trustpilot score is 1.2 out of 5.

Critics say Crypto companies seek legitimacy and normalisation by sponsoring institutions held in high… pic.twitter.com/j649PUeFTe

— Kieran Maguire (@KieranMaguire) August 28, 2026

In May of 2025, a Walworth County man in Wisconsin was contacted by an unidentified woman who introduced herself as Lenora. After establishing a fake romantic relationship, the scammer convinced him to put some of his savings into USDC, a stablecoin designed to maintain a one-to-one value with the U.S. dollar, through a fraudulent investment website.

Court documents say a county judge later ordered Circle to freeze approximately 381,000 USDC linked to the alleged fraud in August, which the company did. Several months later, the court instructed Circle to destroy those tokens and issue the same amount of USDC to the sheriff’s office.

According to prosecutors, Circle declined to carry out the second order, leading to a misdemeanour obstruction-of-justice charge against the company. Circle has rejected the allegations and asked the court to dismiss the case.